Evaluation of the knowledge level, attitudes and behavior of family physicians working in Samsun province Family Health Centers about Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine

Objective: Human Papilloma Virus (HPV); it can show tropism to the epithelial region and cause diseases in a spectrum ranging from benign skin lesions to cancers of the anogenital region and head and neck region. Cervical cancer is the most important of these diseases. Cervical cancer is the ninth most common cancer in women in our country and the third most common cancer among gynecological cancers. There are three types of vaccines produced to prevent HPV infection, which vary according to the HPV genotypes. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the knowledge levels, attitudes and behaviors of family physicians working in Family Health Centers (FHC) about HPV vaccine and to bring the data obtained to the literature. Method: The study was conducted with family physicians working in Family Health Centers in Samsun between 01.12.22 and 31.12.22. A questionnaire consisting of 56 questions about sociodemografic characteristics, informaiton questions about HPV, information questions about cervical cancer and screening, information questions about HPV vaccines and questions about HPV vaccine attitudes and behaviors were administered to the participants by face to face interview method. The data were analyzed in the SPSS 26.0 program and the statistical significance level was accepted as p<0.05. Results: The research was completed with a total of 230 family physicians. It was determined that 68.7% of the physicians were men, 83% were married and 35.2% were family physicians for more than 15 years. The average correct answer to the information questions about HPV was found to be 69.5% and it was seen that there was no relationship with the sociodemographic characteristics of the physicians. The average correct answer to the questions about cervical cancer and screening was found to be 67.2% and it was observed that the number of correct answers of physicians over the age of 56 decreased (p=0.027). The average correct answer to the information questions about HPV vaccines was found to be 71.7% and it was observed that the number of correct answers increased by physicians under the age of 35, those who have practiced medicine for less than 10 years, those who have practiced family medicine for 5 years or less and those who recommend the vaccine to their patients (p=0.001, p<0.001, p=0.03). It has been observed that the average number of correct answers given to the section about HPV vaccine by family physicians who recommend the vaccine by family physicians who recommend the vaccine is higher than those who do not (p=0.044). 1.7% of those who have HPV vaccine are family physicians and all of them are women. 17.4% of family physicians said that they had sufficient knowledge about the vaccine, 83.9% wanted the vaccine to be included in the routine program and 68.3% recommended the vaccine. The most common reason why family physicians didn't recommend HPV vaccine was determined as 79.5% because the vaccine was not in the national immunization program of the Ministry of Health and 63% was the cost of the vaccine. The most important reason that follows these is that family physicians don't see themselves as having sufficient knowledge and experience about vaccination with 53.4%. Conclusion: Physician recommendations are one of the most important factors in increasing vaccination rates. Vaccination services, which are within the scope of primary protection in our country, are provided by family physicians within the scope of primary health care services. The most important factors affecting the recommendation of the vaccine are the lack of the vaccine in the routine program the cost of the vaccine and the lack of knowledge and experience of the family physicians. In service training should be provided to eliminate the lack of knowledge of family physicians about the HPV vaccine and it should be ensured that the vaccine is included in the routine vaccination program. Keywords: Family pysician; Human Papilloma Virus; HPV vaccines; Attitude